Most gnomes don’t think much about the afterlife. Attempts to contact and study those that have passed on generally yields inconclusive results, with one exception: Ghosts.
Ghost are real, as is the shadowlands. They can be interacted with and examined through sciomancy. At one time this lead to the formation of a group of gnomes who believed becoming a ghost was the only hope of an afterlife. (If not the ONLY hope, at least it was preferable to reintegration with the environment or oblivion.) These gnomes became Sciomancers of the highest caliber. Able to contact and control the spirits of the dead, and even enter the shadowlands.
While Gnomeregan had no official laws against Necromancy or Shadow magic at the time, the group was still looked down upon and outcast. Most of these Scimomancers went north to Lordaeron to study at the school that became Scholomance, and were lost to the scourge.
here are two gnome units and one gnome building in Warcraft 2, the Gnomish Flying Machine, the Gnomish Submarine and the Gnomish Inventor. The first to become available is the Gnomish Flying Machine. It’s built at the Gnomish Inventor building. The submarine is built at the shipyard, just like all Alliance boats, but requires the Gnomish Inventor to be present.
hen World of Warcraft launched in 2004 there were really only 2 gnome characters of any note, Mekkatorque and Thermaplugg. It’s suggested in the lore that Mekkatorque has been High Tinker since before the Second War. Therefore I feel like it’s safe to assume that he lead the gnomish forces in that conflict, making Gelbin Mekkatorque THE Gnomish Inventor.
e see in concept art for Heroes of the Storm that Mekkatorque is a pilot of a Gnomish Flying machine. This makes sense, his most famous inventions are forms of transportation, the Mechanostrider and the Deeprun Tram. So his role as a pilot would not contradict anything we see him do in game. It is further supported more by the suit of power armor he pilots on the Broken Shore in Legion. Mekkatorque seems as comfortable behind a control panel as he does with a melee weapon.
f we assume that Mekkatorque lead the Gnomish Air Force during the Second war, I think it’s safe to assume that Thermaplugg was Admiral of the Gnomish Navy. Thermaplugg would not have been on the same level as Mekkatorque. He would have been under the command of Grand Admiral Proudmoore from Kil Tiras. The lore descriptions of how the subs were used in Warcraft 2 imply that the gnome submarines were under Proudmoore’s command.
f we look further at the game mechanics to give lore hints, we find something else. There are two dwarven units in the game too. The Gryphon Rider, which is a Wildhammer dwarf, and the Demolishion Squad, from underground Kaz’Modan. The thing is, the Dwarves of Ironforge are the second unit you get from the 
think that while the Wildhammers were going all in with the Alliance Forces, Ironforge was holding back, and the Ironforge dwarves that did participate were under the command of Mekkatorque.
ildhammers are said in the lore to be separate and distrusting of the other dwarves. They even have their own building for their unit. But the Ironforge dwarves come from the Gnomish Inventor. It supports the idea of the strained relationship between Wildhammers and Bronzebeards.
A few weeks ago, Matthew Rossi over at Blizzard Watch wrote a 
Right now the role-play options for plate wears is esspecially low. We have goggles now, but we still can’t wear eye-patches, blind folds, masks, most monocles, or hats. Opening these up across armor types would make me very happy.
Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg 